Lost Light
by can1235
Summary: When fatally wounded in the Vault of Glass, a Hunter is given a second chance. What he will do with that second chance is up to the ones who gave it to him. T for violence and noticeably darker themes than Destiny the game.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Lost...I'm lost. They're gone…I can barely move…those machines, they killed me…I may still be alive, but…I'm as good as dead…even ghosts have limitations…this is_ _it.._._how__did everything go so wrong..._

"Keep your eyes peeled, they could be anywhere at any time," I stated to my five comrades. We had just invaded the infamous Vault of Glass, and realized that what was in here was beyond any challenge any of us had faced. The Vex were at their strongest here, warping our sense of time and space as we knew it. They would swarm out of thin air, surrounding us in the blink of an eye. At times, it seemed far too challenging for any of us to handle, but we had managed to make it past the impossibly large Hydra in our path along with the Oracles, which we thankfully knew about beforehand from Cayde-6. Just having cleared the room, we were scavenging the corpses for ammo, which we needed greatly. We never saw it until it was too late. I was stupid to not think there would have been surviving Vex, but the lure of more ammo to help us through the Vault distracted me. By the time one of my teammates yelled for me to duck, it was too late.

I heard the blast before I felt it. Heard the loud whoosh as it zoomed right towards me. Smelt the sulfur as the beam melted right through its target. It was only a split second later when I felt it. Searing, white hot pain filled my body, sending me falling to the cold, hard ground. Then I saw something hit the ground in front of me with a clang. My Ghost. It must've tried to shield me from the blast. I heard the panicked cries of my teammates as they quickly found the source of the blast and fired in its general direction. The attacker went down, machinery smoking from the damage it had taken. My teammates quickly ran to me, checking the wound. The blast hurt so much, I didn't even have the energy to check to see how bad it was. I didn't need to, however, because one of my teammates spoke up. It was Edith, a female Hunter. Her hood hid her bright red hair, probably in a ponytail, which seemed to describe her personality best. Brash and impatient, with a fire in her that couldn't be put out. I didn't exactly invite her to this team, she more or less made the decision herself. Still, she had skill, and knew when to make the right call.

"His entire arm…how did one blast do all that!?" She asked, not expecting any answer. The rest of the team stood there in shock, while she tried to revive me. "It's…not working…" she murmured in disbelief. I heard her stand up, sigh, and speak to the group. "He's as good as dead. I can't revive him, and his Ghost…" Another teammate spoke up. It was Kale-3, an Exo male. Behind his helmet was a pitch black face with bright red eyes. He looked almost threatening, but he wasn't that kind of fighter. We were good friends, and he was a great soldier, as well as a fantastic Titan. Most would just channel Arc energy and disintegrate any enemy they could find, but he preferred to channel the power of Void energy, and spend his time protecting his teammates. That's why I chose him as one of the team members.

"There is no way I'm leaving a friend behind!" He shouted. If I still wasn't devoting almost all of my energy to just staying conscious, I probably would've chuckled. It was just like him and his no-man-left-behind mentality.

"Well what are we gonna do, drag him through the Vault? His arm's off now and he can barely move!" Edith yelled. The others watched, not daring to get in-between the two.

"We take him out of the Vault, that's what we do! We call for evac, get him to the Tower, and go back in!" Kale yelled back. I still couldn't see him, the pain had hit me too hard and I was still hopelessly trying to recover from it.

"Kale, look at him!" Edith yelled right back. "The blast seared the wound shut. He isn't going to bleed out. That means we can get through this, then go back for him!"

"And what if the Vex get here before us!?" Kale asked. "They'll finish him off! All we'll be able to take back is a corpse!"

"I'd rather give him a burial than have us all die in this place." The words stung, but I didn't blame her. It was the right choice, whether I liked it or not, and she probably thought I was unconscious by now anyways. "It'll be easier to take down whatever's keeping this place running and then get him out, rather than to carry him with us, or to take him out first and potentially ruin the whole operation!"

After some arguing, they finally reached a decision. They would leave me here, and try to make it through the Vault. Then they would come back, get me out of the Vault and call for evac. _Please…_I tried to speak, but no sound came out._Please don't leave me here…_ I thought as I heard their footsteps grow quieter and quieter, the sound coming from farther and rather away. Each step felt like a nail in a coffin; my coffin. Finally, the sound was gone, and I was alone.

_ Where are they…they said they'd be coming back for me…did they all die out there? Maybe they just decided I was a lost cause…no, they wouldn't do that…wait, is that…footsteps? I can hear somebody walking! It doesn't sound mechanical…but something's off…who is that?_

_"Hello Guardian. Your body looks heavy, and you seem to have lost your light. Maybe you can finally understand how I feel…then again, I am made up of too many different stories. No, you will never understand me. I've told you before that the Nine wish to speak to you. Now that your friends are gone, it is time to make that meeting real. You must sleep however, before you can meet them. They gave me purpose. Maybe they will give you a purpose as well. For your sake, I hope they do."_

_Is that…is that who I think it is?_

_ And then everything went black._

**Well hello there. If you have read the story before and things seem different, don't worry, I'm giving these earlier chapters some serious rewriting. Looking back, I can see the huge quality gap at about halfway through, so I decided to do something about it. I'll try to rewrite these chapters when I can, but I will also try to update the story with new content as well. And to those of you who are just starting this story, make sure you give me any feedback you can! I'm always looking to improve the story in whatever way I can, so don't be afraid to be critical about it.**


	2. Chapter 1: Recognized

**4 Years Later…**

I held my breath, gripping the gun, staring down the scope, surveying the area. "Looks like 4 Cabal patrolling the hangar, 2 guarding the door, and another 2 unloading the crates," I stated. "Should be easy as long as they don't call reinforcements." I turned to look at her, but she was already down the sand dune, sneaking up to one of the Cabal unloading their latest shipment from their home planet. Mostly weapons and ammunition, but occasionally there would be something different, something interesting. "Be careful, these guys don't look like fresh recruits."

"We're not here to take them out," she stated firmly, "we're here to destroy the shipment. Killing them would certainly help, but the shipment is our main objective."

"I know," I joked, "but you seriously can't expect to just blow up their guns and leave with a cake."

"Just shut up and cover me" she growled. I sighed and readied to fire on the explosives she was planting on the shipment, the dead Cabal soldier next to her. As soon as she was done, I'd shoot one and the rest would go off. A minute later, she finished and ran, not bothering to be stealthy. The Cabal would have more to worry about. I put my finger on the trigger and pressed down. As the explosion went off, she activated her teleporter and disappeared, me doing the same. When I got out of warp I was immediately grabbed and forced behind cover. It was my Exo ally, the one who I had been sent with. She pointed to the ship, where I quickly saw 2 Guardians patrolling around it.

_Crap, with those guys there we won't be able to do anything, we're supposed to make sure anybody who sees us dies._ I thought. "I see 2 options here," the Exo whispered, "either we sneak in and fly off or we kill them both." I gritted my teeth hearing that, killing Guardians was not something I ever wanted to do.

"We can throw a flashbang and run into the ship while they're dazed." I whispered back. I was already formulating the detail in my mind.

"Fine, but if any see us, I'm not hesitating, even if you will." The Exo whispered, ending the discussion. She pulled a flashbang out of her cloak and threw it. We both ran to the ship as the 2 Guardians stumbled around, dazed. We ran into the ship only to find a 3rd Guardian looking around inside. He turned around and grabbed his Scout Rifle which he had set down. By the time he was back up I was right in front of him. He grabbed my right arm and tried to push me away. We struggled before he was pushed back, pulling my glove off in the process. When he looked up, instead of seeing flesh and bone, what he saw was a mechanical arm.

"Your arm…" the Guardian stuttered, "but that means…you're…" was all he managed to say before my Exo companion shot him right in the head.

"You didn't have to kill him!" I yelled, but it was already too late to change anything. She got in the pilot's seat and started to fly the ship.

"Yes I did, he knew who you were, now kick the body off the ship, I don't want it stinking up the thing," She replied. I turned to the body and kicked it off the ship as we took off. _I'm sorry._ I thought as I put my glove back on and shut the door. I slumped down, in shock at what had happened.

I looked up and when I saw that she had her same demeanor as always, my shock turned into rage. "How could you just kill him in cold blood like that!?" I yelled, "The worst part is that afterwards you don't even bother to act like it happened!" I got up and walked over. She turned to look at me and then immediately slapped me and shoved me to the ground.

"I told you before that I would kill all of them if it meant our identities would be secure. Don't blame me for doing what was necessary to fix your screw-up!" she yelled at me, "This is not a job for people who don't want their hands dirty! If you don't want that then you should've said no when The Nine asked you to join!" I just sat in shock. Her words had truth to them, it was me who revealed my identity when I let him take my glove off. However, she had just as much rage built up inside as I did, I could tell by her tone and her eyes. She had lost that cold, calculated look that she had shown when we had first talked at Venus, and she rarely looked any different. I knew I had struck a chord when I said she didn't care about taking a life.

We argued throughout the ride back to base, yelling back and forth, shoving each other down, even threatening each other with weapons. We only stopped when we heard the beep from the ship's console, signaling that we had arrived. She quickly got in the pilot's chair and docked the ship. "We'll finish this later." she growled. We both got our gear and got out, seeing Maines standing to meet us.

Maines, or Sgt. Maines as he was known in the tower, was a human like me who also lost his ghost and was found by The Nine. He was known for his natural talent for creating solid plans that almost never fail. He's also a smart-alec, and constantly ticks off the Exo, Karina. "So, did you blow up the supplies? What did the cabal look like when they saw their stuff got blow up?" He asked quickly, followed by more questions until he was silenced when Karina whacked him in the face with the butt of her Pulse Rifle, knocking him to the ground. She walked off while Maines groaned, "Why'd you even give that thing back to her?"

"Because I prefer Handcannons," I said, helping him get up, "Don't worry about her, she's just in a bad mood." I finished as we watched her walk off to her room. "Well, I'd better get going too, a successful mission calls for a celebration!" I exclaimed, running to the eating area.

"Hey, wait for me! You know how much I love food!" Maines yelled behind me. As we both ran we heard something behind us. _What is that…wait, is that…a ship!?_ I thought before the docking bay exploded behind me.

**Sorry for the delay, I had a lot on my schedule. Luckily with that time I was able to think of more plot for this fanfic!**

_If their ghost is killed a Guardian will be forced to leave service due to the dangers outside the city._

_Veterans still tell newer Guardians the story of a famous Hunter who destroyed the Black Garden but was killed by the Vex in The Vault of Glass. There is a memorial statue dedicated to him located in The Tower._


	3. Chapter 2: Invaded

The explosion rocketed the docking bay, sending Maines flying. He landed close to me, and I quickly got to him. The left side of his face was badly burned and shrapnel had punctured his leg in multiple spots. I quickly pulled him up and supported him as we both hurried over to the Medbay. On the way, we saw Karina running towards us, Pulse Rifle in hand. "What happened!?" she yelled over the alarms going off.

"There was a ship near the docking bay," I yelled back, "next thing we knew, the whole place got blown up, can you take Maines to the Medbay? I need to see what's going on!" She nodded her head and grabbed him, hurrying him to the Medbay. I ran back to the docking bay, only to find ships flying outside the hangar doors and more flying in. As they landed their doors opened and figures stepped out, too far away to be seen. Soon after getting out, they started firing on me, so I ran to cover and pulled out my Handcannon. I got up and started firing, taking one enemy down with every shot. A couple times I threw a grenade, but it was hardly necessary. I kept firing until my headset started to make noise.

"Get over to the Medbay now!" it was Karina! I got up and ran, all while dodging the enemy gunfire and shooting back as I ran. I made it to the Medbay only to find Maines and Karina on the floor with enemy soldiers walking around. I pulled up my Handcannon and started firing, landing headshots every time. Once they were all gone, I ran over to check if the two were okay. Maines was still burnt and bleeding, but Karina had been shot in multiple spots, and was badly injured. _They must've came in through the vents!_ I thought when I saw the vent covers had been blown off. I walked over to one of the enemy corpses and lifted off their helmet only to see…_a human!? But that can only mean…no…_ They were Guardians. I set the helmet down, got up, walked out and locked the Medbay doors behind me. It would hold for a bit, but I needed to hold off the attackers until I could find a way to get out of the base.

I ran down the halls, shooting down Guardians as I ran, until I reached the docking bay once again. I shot down all of the troops in sight, then ran to one of the enemy ships, checking to see if it was in working order. I sighed in relief when I saw it would still work, then ran out and back to the Medbay. I quickly entered the passcode to the doors and opened them. I grabbed Karina first and carried her back to the ship, then went back for Maines, all while shooting down any remaining Guardians. I grabbed Maines and ran for the ship. My mind was barely functioning, I was in a fight or flight mode, it was like my mind was on autopilot. When Karina and Maines were both on the ship, I closed the doors and got into the pilot's seat. I started to take off while Guardians started firing at the ship. I barely made it out, and shot down some ships while escaping.

When I got into orbit, I checked on Karina and Maines. Maines was still badly wounded, but it looked like he was going to live. Karina, however, was badly hurt, with bullet impact marks all over her body. I got back to the controls and set the ship to head to the only place I could think of. The Sanctuary. The home of The Nine.

**To make up for the long wait, I made sure to release this chapter soon. Hopefully the next chapter won't take a month too!**

_The speaker has recently sent out a mission to all available guardians. The message is as follows:_

_To all Guardians: if you can, head to the coordinates below. We believe we have found the location of rogue Guardians who are working for the darkness. Take them out, and leave no prisoners._


	4. Chapter 3: Memories

As I got closer to the ship, some drones flew next to me, armed to the teeth. I entered my code into the ship's communications terminal and sent it to the drones. When they got the code they flew back to the Sanctuary. I landed in the ship's only docking bay and dragged Karina and Maines out. They looked like crap, Maines covered in blood and burnt everywhere, and Karina shot up like a practice dummy at close range. I headed toward the Sanctuary's medical facility, and put them both in life support before heading to the inner sanctum. Memories of my only other time being there flooded back to me.

"_What the-where am I!?" I looked around in a dimly lit chamber. I could barely see, but I could hear a voice._

"_Do not be alarmed, we have no ill intentions." The voice was calm and calculated. "We have saved your life and recovered you from the Black Garden." I knew from his voice that he didn't do it to be nice._

"_What's the catch? You want money, weapons, something of value?" I replied coldly. I knew how the game worked, before I had died I was a grunt for the Mafia, and you didn't save some bodies life for free unless you were stupidly nice._

"_None of that, we just want your services," that was surprising, but who did they think I was? I wasn't some gun-for-hire mercenary, I was a Guardian! "Before you put your honor in this, let me remind you that your Ghost died in the Black Garden, and if you were to return to the Tower you would be let go from the force, after all, they can't risk losing a life out there with no Ghost to revive them." He had a point. I didn't want to stop fighting, it was all I knew from the moment I was revived my first time, if I stooped now, I had no idea what I'd do._

"_What are the conditions?" I wasn't about to say yes without knowing the exceptions._

"_You work for us, and do what we say. If you betray us, we kill make sure you don't last another day. You will work with others, and follow the commands of those of higher status than you. Work hard enough and you will reap the benefits. Slack off or fail the mission because of the inability to follow orders and you will suffer." Sounded harsh, but what would I do if I said no? Even if they would let me go, what then? Retire, maybe train new Guardians? No, I've seen Cayde 6, there's no way I'm doing that._

"_I'm in."_

I stepped through the doors of the inner sanctum, and prepared to face the Nine.


	5. Chapter 4: Assignment

I stepped into the inner sanctum, not really knowing what emotions I should've felt. Should I have felt nervous, determined, hopeful, depressed? All these emotions and more were flooding my brain, and I had no idea which one to put into control. It was too late to decide, and too late to go back. I heard the voice, the same voice I heard when I woke up that time in the inner sanctum. "What are you doing here?" The voice had no curiosity in its voice, only anger.

"The rest of my team had been heavily injured." I calmly stated, making sure to not let my emotions take control. "I brought them to the only safe place I knew of, and to ask you what I should do next." The voice was silent for a while, then it spoke again.

"Very well, the Nine accepts your reasoning. You may keep those two here as long as it takes for them to recover, and until they have done so you will be assigned to another squadron." Excitement became one of the more noticeable emotions in me. I knew the Nine had countless squadrons, all varying sizes and types, working on separate missions. Squadrons almost never worked together, and different squadrons only met if there was to be a member transfer, or, in my case, if a team was almost destroyed, leaving only one or two members available to work.

"Where will I go?" I asked respectfully. I did not want to screw this up. Curiosity had taken over, and I wanted to know more.

"Go to the coordinates we have sent to you on your datapad. You will meet your new squadron there. Tell them that you have the last word." I checked the screen on my suit's arm, also called the datapad. I didn't know the coordinates, but I trusted the Nine. They had saved my life and asked me to take missions that could change the numerous wars in the solar system, without me proving my loyalty in any way.

"Thank you." I said. I left the inner sanctum and went to the medbay. Now that the moment was gone, the emotions in my head were replaced with questions. How did the Guardians know about our base? Why did they attack? What would my new squadron be like? Would Karina and Maines be okay while I was gone? I stopped thinking about it. I knew some questions just would never be answered, and I wouldn't go out of my way to find all of the answers. Not yet at least. I entered the coordinates on my datapad, and teleported to the unknown.

_A datapad is a touchpad on the arm of highly advanced gear. It is only given to the most skilled Guardians, as it is extremely valuable and as a result very few are ever made. Datapads can be used to store information, just as coordinates and data, and can also be used to summon personal vehicles, teleport to one's ship, and, if hacked by a skillful technician, much more._

** Hey hey hey, how's it going? These two chapters were due a looooooong time ago, but I'm super lazy, and I also have ADD, so my mind's been off in lala land thinking of new ideas, stories, and nothing at all. To make up for the long wait, I'm having a contest! I usually just press a button and a random name pops up on my screen, which is how I name most of my characters in almost all of my stories, so I want to know what you would name them! The character will be female, so I will not accept male names. Feel free to post your idea in the reviews section or PM me. I'm not going to say the next chapter will be out soon, because whenever I do it takes 2-3 months for it to actually come out. I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 5: New Allies

Out of all the places I expected to teleport to, I never thought it would be where this all began. The Vault of Glass. It only took me a few seconds to realize my location, and when I did, I had to take a minute. It was never fun to walk down memory lane. I finally got a hold of myself and looked around. The Vault of Glass had been a nightmare the last time I was here, but now it was…quiet. Something was wrong. I walked around, my hands tightly gripping my Handcannon as I tried to get my bearings. Not like I could, I was in a cave for crying out loud. I heard a noise behind me and quickly turned around, my finger on the trigger. It was an Exo?

"Woah buddy, easy there! No need for the gun!" The Exo held up his hands, showing he had no weapon in his hands. I did see a small gun holstered to his upper leg. I ran it through my head, debating whether to make him toss it to me or not. On one side, I didn't want a potential enemy with a gun, but if trouble arose, the more guns on my side the better. Before I could make a decision however, I was grabbed from behind and forced to the ground by an unknown assailant. I grunted and my face hit the ground, my helmet absorbing most of the impact. The Exo walked up to me.

"What do you have?" It seemed these two were working together. In hindsight, it was obvious that he wasn't alone. You had to have enough people to open the Vault, and going solo was suicidal. Then again, it had been a while and I still hadn't encountered any enemies. I struggled, but his partner had a strong grip. "I said, what do you have?" He sounded impatient. As I continued to struggle, it hit me. _Tell them that you have the last word._

"I've got the last word!" I yelled, and then the Exo's partner let go of me. I got up and brushed myself off. Turning around, I saw that his partner was Awoken Female.

"So you're the guy?" the Exo asked. I nodded. It was obvious now that these two were my new teammates. There was probably more. "Sorry about that. Guardians have been all over this place lately and we can't take any chances. Name's Sep-7." He pointed to the girl. "She's Ailsa." She gave a quick nod of her head. "She doesn't talk much." Sep was interrupted by a voice emanating from his datapad.

"_If you guys are done with the chit-chat, I'd appreciate it if you get to the generators. We don't have all day, and scanners show Guardian activity about twenty miles from here._" The voice said. It sounded male, human. Sep sighed.

"Mark, how many times have I told you to stop hacking into my datapad? I don't want you hearing everything I say!" He yelled. He turned to Ailsa and I. "Well, time to go. We're gonna help the Guardians with a little divine intervention." As we headed to the Oracles, things I knew all about from my previous venture into the Vault, Sep filled me in. Apparently the House of Wolves, once under the command of the Awoken Queen, had revolted. Their leader, Skolas, was currently in the Vault and trying to secure Vex technology. He already had the Oracles, and had them shielded by strong plasma energy. The generators that were remotely supplying power to the Oracles were scattered across the Vault, and without them off, the shields would stay on and the Oracles would be untouchable. I had heard the stories of what Oracles could do to you, and thankfully my time in the Vault didn't include any of the results. All we had to do was shut down the generators before the Guardians arrived and they would do the rest for us.

We arrived at the entrance to a small subsection of the Vault where the first generator would be. Sep tossed me a small gun, similar to the one he had. "From our friends in the Reef." He chuckled. "They gave us these and a few other toys in exchange for the help. Of course, they're not gonna tell the Guardians anything about that." I examined it. It looked like a high-tech version of a pistol of old; albeit with a holographic sight. "That thing uses arc power cells and a trigger so fast the MIDA is feeling threatened. You'll wanna use it in there; a Handcannon isn't gonna cut it in tight corridors like these." I holstered my Handcannon and gripped the sidearm tightly. It felt light and comfortable to hold. We went in, guns pointed in front of us. Whenever we reached a corner, we'd peek around and if there were any Vex or Fallen on the other side, let loose a couple shots. I wasn't gonna lie; it felt really nice to shoot that gun. We eventually made it to the generator, guarded by a Captain, a Servitor and a few Vandals. We all let out the whole clip in our Sidearms, ending the lives of every Fallen in there by the time the last bullet was shot. We all reloaded and Ailsa rushed to the generator. She tinkered with it a bit and with a little help from Mark, disabled it.

There was only one other generator, and Sep winced a bit when he figured out where according to the scanner on his datapad. "It's in the Gorgons' lair." I shuddered. The Gorgons were Vex machines that are rumored to be able to completely kill you with just a single look. They were only found in the Vault, in some maze-like area. Anybody who was seen by them would have no chance of escape, as not only did killing one require practically a small army, but it would alert all the others in the cave. I didn't really want to go there, but it was the mission, so I sighed and headed there with Sep and Ailsa.

After a while, and more dead Vex and Fallen, we arrived. Sep motioned for us to get moving, and slowly moved forward, us following suit. It was quiet, and almost peaceful. I didn't understand what was going on until I saw it. Like a Harpy, but pale white with a light blue eye in the center, floating by, making strange light beeping noises. It was surreal and ethereal at the same time. It started to turn, and before I knew it, Ailsa shoved me behind a large boulder. She gave a 'shh' motion, and we held still. I could tell she wasn't breathing, and neither was I. After a while, we heard the beeping get slower and fainter as the Gorgon wandered off. We both took a breath and I nodded in thanks.

After dealing with a few more Gorgons, we eventually made it to a small cave splitting off from the maze. Inside was the generator, according to the scans Mark had made. From what I had overheard, Mark seemed to be the brains of the operation, back at base monitoring our operations. He also provided information on how to work enemy machinery. In short, he was smart. We headed into the cave, guns out, but saw nothing but the generator and a chest. "What the…" Sep muttered. Why would the Fallen leave this generator defenseless? "Maybe they thought nobody could get through the maze…" He muttered. We didn't see any bodies in the maze, so that must've been it. Mark once again guided Ailsa through disabling the generator, and that was it. Mission accomplished. The Guardians would be able to stop the House of Wolves from using the Oracles, and in the process would help cripple them for the Reef. Something felt off.

"Hey Sep," Sep turned to me. "Can you ask Mark to run a diagnostic on one of the Gorgons?" Sep thought it was risky, but Mark interjected, saying he'd love to see their statistics. One quick (and near fatal) trip later, we were back in the cave and Mark was running the data recovered through a translator provided from the Nine. Sep decided to show me around the base while Ailsa and Mark kept an eye on the status of the translation. Afterwards, we came back to Mark to check on the progress, but it looked like he was already done.

"Take a look at this." Mark said, staring at the screen. "It looks like a regular Vex statistic screen, except…" He paused. "It says it has 0 kills."

"What do you mean? Aren't those things supposed to kill you with a look?" I asked, and Mark just shook his head.

"At first I thought so, but now…" He paused again. "There's something different about these statistics. There's another stat by its kill count. It says 'Erased'. The numbers are in the thousands…"

"What are you getting at?" Sep asked. There was a hint of caution in his voice, as if even he didn't want to know.

"I'm saying…" Mark seemed extremely hesitant. "I'm saying that since the Vex have control over certain aspects of time…" He took one final breath. "Maybe Gorgons don't kill you. Maybe when it says 'erased', it means…maybe Skolas did send Fallen into the maze…" Then, it hit me. Erased. Control of time. No bodies yet thousands of living creatures had been caught by it. The Gorgons didn't kill people. They erased them from existence.

** Cmon guys, I give you almost a half a year to think up girl names, and nothing? I thought you were my friends ;( Anyways, I didn't take this hiatus for nothing. I've been working on other stories and getting more experienced with writing. When I started Lost Light, I felt I wasn't doing the story justice with my current writing skills, so I made sure I would be a much better author before I even touched this story again. I hope you guys can understand that I did this so I could deliver a much better story for you. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'd love it if at least one of you got every reference in this chapter!**


	7. Chapter 6: Recovery

Wait for further instructions. That was the message received from the Nine; or possibly a middleman passing the message along. The codes sent with those four words confirmed that. It's not like I was complaining, I needed time to take it all in. For the next couple of days I wandered the halls of the base. It was about the same size as my previous homestead, but a bit more practical. Where the old medbay had some fancy vital monitors (none of which I ever understood), this one just had a simple vitals monitor from the Golden Age, perhaps even earlier. It still functioned, but I could tell it was hanging on by a thread. Where there were elaborate virtual reality training simulations in my old base, in here there were just 3D models of the enemies we'd be facing to shoot. There was no storage facility, Sep explained to me that we'd be storing our own things in our own quarters. It was initially jarring, but I eventually got used to it.

I decided to ask Mark why this place was so low-tech. "Jeez, I knew Alpha Squad was disconnected from the rest of us, but I never knew it was that bad." I asked him what he meant. "The Nine have named for each squad under their control. The names are from some old alphabet. Like seriously old. Like, pre-pre-pre-pre Golden Age old. The squad is given a name based off their skills and overall success rate. If you don't do well enough, you'll fall behind and get a different name for your squad. Think of it as a competitive sport." I nodded. "You were a part of Alpha. A small, 3-man team that got chosen for the toughest and most crucial assignments out there."

"I was never told we had a name." I muttered. "I never even knew how many other squads were out there…" It was annoying to learn that there were so many things I didn't know.

"Looks like they didn't want the eagles soaring down to chat with the insects." Mark said, his tone showing a bit of anger. "Well, you're not in Alpha Squad anymore. Welcome to Sigma Squad." He held out his hand. I grabbed it and we shook. All traces of anger in his voice were gone, replaced by a grin. "Hey, can you tell me what it was like? Being in Alpha Squad, I mean."

I sighed. "Like you said, it wasn't easy. High profile targets, sabotaging important enemy projects, the list goes on. What made it tougher was that stealth was the goal. We couldn't go in guns blazing. It was go in quiet and come out alive or go in loud and never come back. Anybody who saw our faces, knew our identities, had to die." I paused. "I had to make a lot of tough choices." My mind went back to the Guardians I had to put down. That was by far the worst part of the job. A necessary evil, Karina would call it. Mark nodded. I guess he had some sort of understanding of what I went through. We went silent for a bit.

"What about your team? What were they like?" Mark asked. I could tell he was genuinely curious, and not just asking to break the silence. I smiled a bit. These were memories I could enjoy reliving.

"First there was Maines. He was a commander, a good one too. Yet, no matter how serious he was during the fight, afterwards, all of the tension just seemed to…disappear. He became a sarcastic, happy guy, and I swear I lost count of the amount of times he kept me going through all the darker times." I chuckled. "Then there was Karina. We actually first met back when I was a Guardian. She kept her words brief, never explaining who she was or why she was helping me. She kept all of it short and to the point. In fact, so short that it annoyed me." I laughed. "Once I was recruited, we got formally acquainted. She was cold, rude and her attitude was remarkably sterile, but yet…" I sighed. "She was the most reliable teammate you could ever have. She saved my life so many times that if she cared about debts she'd probably make me her servant for life!" I laughed again. It felt nice to relive the good memories. Then I noticed Mark. He wasn't smiling anymore.

"You were a Guardian?" He asked. He sounded worried, and a little scared. I nodded. "Don't ever tell Sep." Now his voice sounded even more scared. I started getting seriously worried.

"Why not?" I asked, my voice carrying the slightest tremor. Something about Mark's newfound attitude was…jarring. He looked straight at me.

"Because Guardians took away everything he had." Mark said, his voice ice cold. He walked away. I didn't stop him. The way he said it worried me, but the worst part was that I could tell he was a lot more worried than I was.

About two weeks after I joined Sigma Squad, we finally got a new order. Mark called us all into the command center over the intercom. I walked in and saw the others all waiting for me. There were no chairs except the one Mark was sitting on, right in front of the main console, so the rest of us just stood. He pulled up the transmission. It had already been deciphered, so we didn't have to wait for that. Thankfully, it was more descriptive than the last one.

**HIGH PRIORITY TARGET: ISA**

**HUMAN, EX-GUARDIAN, CURRENTLY WANTED BY THE TOWER**

**CURRENT AFFILIATIONS: UNKNOWN**

**GHOST: NONE**

**FILE RECOVERED FROM THE TOWER INFIRMARY:**

**DIAGNOSTIC: Once a Hunter, she was suspended indefinitely from duty after she miraculously escaped from the [REDACTED], albeit losing her Ghost in the process. During checkups, Isa seemed to be slightly mentally unbalanced, being much more quiet and introverted, but no signs of [REDACTED] were showing. However, one day we found small traces of [REDACTED] in her system. Worried, we moved her to [REDACTED] in case the problem was growing. Once there however, she soon became paranoid and scared, and more [REDACTED] began to show up in her system. Eventually, we identified a major possible source as some form of [REDACTED] caused by extreme exposure to [REDACTED]. However, the discovery was made that, in fact, the source was far worse. It seems that the [REDACTED] were able to [REDACTED] sometime when she was escaping from the [REDACTED].**

**SUBJECT FATE:**

**Doctor's Recommendation: Subject Termination.**

**Vanguard's Recommendation: Subject Termination. (Note that Cayde-6 was highly against said proposal, however was overruled due to majority vote)**

**New Monarchy's Recommendation: Subject Termination**

**Dead Orbit's Recommendation: Subject Termination**

**Future War Cult's Recommendation: Subject Be Transferred Into FWC Custody**

**Final ruling of the Tower council: Subject termination.**

"She obviously didn't get killed." I muttered. "She must've escaped…" I looked at Sep, who looked like he was just hit by a Skiff. _Because Guardians took away everything he had._ Crap, that was right. Mark waited a bit while we read the transmission, then typed back an encrypted code.

**G7XLC3TY07X?**

Looks like Sigma's code was the same as Alpha's. I translated it into "Kill, capture or recruit?" We waited a bit, then a new message came back.

**H4F8T11I9.**

Mark translated for the rest of the team, but I didn't need to know. "Recruit." Once he was done, Mark let the team read it. Sure enough, the Nine wanted us to recruit this Isa woman. Sep didn't even say anything, he just left, the automatic door opening and closing as he went through.

"Whatever she has in her must be pretty dangerous for the City if even the 3 big factions pitched in their opinion." I remarked. Ailsa and Mark nodded. "And the death sentence for a former Guardian…we'd better find her before anybody else does." Mark pulled up an attached file to the original message, coordinates. They led to somewhere in the Cosmodrome in Old Russia. That worried me. It was a bit too close to the Tower for comfort, and was a popular place for Guardians to patrol.

"I'll go talk to Sep. We're leaving in ten minutes, so get whatever you need." Mark announced to Ailsa and I. We nodded and left to get our equipment. On the way to my quarters I was wondering what this Isa woman could have that would worry the City so much. Obviously it was something inside her, and not something of the light. I entered my quarters and flicked a lightswitch, the lights slowly flickering on as I did. I checked my stuff; my old favorite Handcannon, worn and torn from years of neglect before I found it half-buried in a sand dune on Mars, (I liked to call it Rusty when nobody was around) the small weapon I had been given in the Vault, (Mark called it a sidearm) my camouflage-focused Sniper Rifle, (People called it the Patience and Time, but I just like to call it That-Cool-Gun-That-Makes-You-Turn-Invisible) and my old cloak. It was torn all over and covered in dried dirt and muck, but I liked it. I felt it made a statement about who I was, and how long I had been out in the wild. I guess it's true what they say; Hunters have an unhealthy obsession with the aesthetic side of life. I packed Rusty, my Sniper, and put my cloak on. I headed back to the control center and waited. It seemed that I was the first one done for once. After a while, Ailsa came in with a Scout Rifle on her back and a Sidearm holstered to her leg followed by Mark and Sep. Mark wasn't going out to the field, instead he was going to keep an eye on us from the base like he did during our operation in the Vault, albeit only from satellite feeds; the area was too close to the City to get any strong communications, the Guardians might catch the signals. ("I'm the only one with complete knowledge of how to work the equipment here" was his excuse) Thankfully, Sep was ready to go, with an Auto Rifle in his hands and a Shotgun strapped to his back. I wasn't going to ask Mark how he convinced Sep to go. We entered the coordinates on our Datapads and we were off to Old Russia.

As my body came out of warp, I could feel a light breeze all around me. The air tasted bitter; most likely the dirt gathering all around. Small dust devils and the occasional windstorm weren't uncommon here. With no helmet, I was able to feel all these things, and I enjoyed it. But it wasn't the time to look around. We checked out Datapads and I saw a small blip on the map of the local area. The blip started moving, away from us. I guessed it was probably Isa. I showed Sep and Ailsa, and we headed off in the direction of the blip. As we got closer, we noticed a strange signature on the map. I looked up, checking to see what it might be, and saw a Fallen Skiff. It wasn't uncommon to see these small ships heading to the surface, usually to drop off some troops then go into cloaking mode. But this one set down. Something was wrong. We started running, continuously checking the map to make sure the blip wasn't gone. Thankfully, we were getting closer rather than farther. Suddenly, the blip was gone, blinking out like it wasn't even there. I pulled out my Sniper and got a closer look. I could see some Dregs pulling somebody into the Skiff as 2 Vandals and a Captain watched. The body was definitely female, and I could see movement. That had to be her! I put my Sniper back on my back and pulled out my Handcannon.

Just as we were about to start moving again, the Skiff started to take off. _Nononono! _I thought to myself. If this Skiff got away, we'd probably never see it again. Just as the cloaking started to cover the Skiff, an explosion rocketed the front. No, not an explosion. _A blast of energy…_ I thought to myself. We went running, the Skiff now plummeting from the air. It landed with a large, deafening *thud* and sent a small shockwave all around it. Thankfully, it wasn't too far from the ground when it started to plummet, so the shockwave was more of a blast of air and dust than anything else. Another blat of energy emanated from inside the Skiff, this time in a slashing motion. It was bright purple, probably Void energy. "What could've done that!?" I asked, my voice raised after the loud crash.

"Probably the girl." Sep said. He seemed focused, looking straight at the Skiff and nothing else. "Come on, let's get moving before we lose her again!" I stopped Sep, grabbing his arm.

"Sep, Mark told me you have a vendetta against Guardians. Now whatever may have happened before, I want to know you'll-" I was interrupted by Sep laughing.

"Mark's just paranoid." Sep chuckled. "Yeah, I did have a vendetta. The reason why it doesn't matter here is because A. She's not a Guardian anymore, and B. I only hate a certain crowd. If anything, they hate me a lot more. Now come on, let's go." I didn't know what to say. He could be lying, or could be telling the truth. I didn't have time to think about it. I trusted him. We reached the top of a hill, the crashed Skiff a little ways from the bottom. Ailsa grabbed my shoulder for a second and pointed at the crash site. There was a 3rd party. The Guardians were here.

It looked to be about 3, the standard size for a unit of Guardians. I knew instantly why they were at the crash. It wasn't to check it out or to analyze components of the ship, it was to capture Isa and take her back to the City for execution. I wouldn't let that happen. We had a job, and we weren't gonna fail. We slid down the hill, gravel getting kicked down while dirt and dust got kicked up. We eventually made it to the bottom and saw that the Guardians had already gone in. I looked at Ailsa. "Mark said he'd be sending us a ship at these coordinates." I showed her the coordinates on my Datapad. " Take off in it and leave it in cloak mode until I give the go-ahead to land here." I told her. Luckily, the crash has left some extra flat space, big enough for the ship to land. Ailsa would be our transport in case things got bad, which I knew they would. She nodded, and ran on back. I looked at Sep, nodded, and we went in, guns ready.

Sep had his Shotgun out while I had my Handcannon. We slowly stepped into the ship, through a hole created by the blast of energy. I made sure not to step on the parts of the metal which had been initially ripped apart, they were steaming and smoking, even glowing a light purple, a sure sign they shouldn't be touched. Now that we were tangling with Guardians, I wished we had helmets of some kind, but the Nine considered them wasted space. Anybody saw us that wasn't supposed to, had to die. We moved in, examining the Fallen bodies here and there. Ether pooled around them and they had the same effect as the metal. We heard a scream, and ran towards it. We ran into a small room, probably for storage. Then we saw her. Short, red hair and light green eyes. Definitely Caucasian. And surrounded by Fallen. We took aim, but then she pulled her hand up and we were launched backwards along with the Fallen. I slowly got up; luckily Sep and I didn't seem to be severely injured. We couldn't say the same for the Fallen. I started to walk towards her again.

"You're Isa, right?" She looked at me, motionless. "We're here to rescue you." She looked at me with hate in her eyes.

"So you're with the City then?" The said, gritting her teeth. "Come to take me to die?" I shook my head. She seemed to be surprised.

"We have different employers. We're here to make sure you don't die." She still looked unconvinced.

"And how do I know I can trust you?" She asked. She was scared, I could tell that, but she had a fire to her voice, like most Hunters do. I knew she could still take us, and with whatever she had, she would probably win. We heard footsteps and voice coming from down another hallway.

"You don't, but you can either come with us or deal with the people who you know want to kill you." I said, my voice unwavering. I knew we had seconds until the Guardians got in here. She looked straight at me. And then she walked over to me.

"Where do we go?" Isa asked. We started running down the hall.

"We've got a transport waiting just outside the Skiff." I replied. "Speaking of…" I turned on short-range coms with Ailsa. It would be untraceable, going by too fast to catch unlike communications from here to the base. "Ailsa, uncloak and land next to the Skiff. We've got her." I could hear the ship's engines from outside the Skiff and I knew the cloaking was off. We sprinted as we heard shouts from behind us. I felt bullets whizz by as the Guardians shot at us. "Crap, they've spotted us!" I threw a Trip Mine back at them. It would probably slow them down; the Skiff was unstable already, shooting the explosive would probably send the ceiling crashing down. They'd have to wait for it to automatically turn off. We ran out of the Skiff and saw the ship waiting for us. It wasn't anything glamorous, but it would work. The door to the loading bay opened as the ship started to lift up. We jumped in and saw Guardians exit the Skiff as the doors closed. The ship entered cloak mode as we started to take off. We had Isa. Missions accomplished. It was time to head back to the base.

"I hope you have some proof or evidence regarding the existence of this rogue group that you keep trying to have us believe." Commander Zavala said. He was getting tired and impatient. One of the best Guardians they had, a Warlock with some of the greatest skill and ability for her kind, was off chasing ghost stories about a group made up of rogue Guardians, highly skilled mercenaries and the like, and it was, in his opinion, a waste of her talent. He had high hopes for her, but all she had given the City on this so called "Rogue Squad" was a location to a hidden base with only 3 troops. The end result was a bloodbath, they all managed to escape while the City had lost countless Guardians. There still was no proof that the base belonged to this supposed squadron, and it could've easily been owned by random mercenaries. Even the blurred pictures some Ghosts managed to get of one of them wasn't enough to prove anything.

She spoke. "I was recently sent on a mission to recover Isa from the Cosmodrome and bring her back for her sentencing." Zavala knew she was trying not to sound angry. Those 2 were close friends, and knowing her friend had to die must've been hard. He may've been cold-natured most of the time, but he was sympathetic towards the Guardians' plights. "However, she managed to escape with the help of 3 unknowns. Ghost?" She motioned towards her Ghost.

"On it." The Ghost used the small light in the center of his small form to project a picture.

"The first seems to be an Exo, gender unknown." The picture showed a slightly blurry figure, but Zavala knew an Exo when he saw one. The plating was bright red, and their bright blue eyes shined extremely bright in contrast to the rest of the picture. "The second was unknown, but we managed to capture this picture from the front of the ship they escaped in." The picture changed to an extremely blurry figure. Zavala couldn't identify this one. "Finally, we have this." The picture changed to a human male, running with what looked to be Isa right next to him. It was still rather blurry, but Zavala recognized the picture. His face must've given it away, as she grinned. "The same man we saw back at the hidden base."

Zavala looked at her, intrigued. This seemed to finally be getting somewhere. "So what are you trying to get to here?"

She continued to grin, and spoke. "These 3 somehow knew about where Isa was, even though it was supposed to be sensitive information as to her tracker. Then, they took off with her, one using known Hunter tactics such as a Trip Mine, then escaped in a ship with advanced cloaking." She looked straight into Zavala's eyes, no longer grinning. "Do you really think a random mercenary group could accomplish that? And even if they could, why take her? As far as we know, none of our enemies even know about her save for the Hive, and they would never hire a human or Exo to do their work!" She slammed her hand down on the table. "This has to be the Rogue Squad! You can't deny that this is strange. And look!" Her Ghost's imagine system changed to a picture of an empty zone on Venus. "This was supposed to be filled to the brim with Vex, preparing to overtake the Ishtar Academy. Then we arrived, and there wasn't a single machine left. All transport gates destroyed, all signs of Vex life gone. The only evidence ever recovered of a 3rd party was a blurry picture of…" As the picture changed, Zavala finished the sentence for her.

"A red Exo with bright blue eyes." Zavala said. She kept showing him piece after piece, all relating in some way or another to these 3 unknowns. The same ship that carried them out had bombed the roof of a known Hive breeding ground, caving it in 9 months ago. The same man guiding Isa to the exit of the Skiff had been caught in brief, blurred glimpses fleeing a Cabal storage facility, mere seconds before it exploded a little over 2 weeks ago. Zavala had never even known about a majority of these sightings, but as more and more were shown to him, he realized they all were connected to the unknowns that helped Isa escape.

"If you don't think that this proves the existence of an organized unit of elite soldiers out there, then nothing will." She said, willpower in her voice. Zavala could tell that all of those years she spent gathering information and venturing to dangerous and uncharted areas wasn't for nothing. She had been saving this information for the right time. And now that she had the final link in the chain, the time was now.

"Fine." Zavala grunted. "Your evidence is solid and, if this turns out to be the case, this group could be more dangerous than any other enemy we're dealing with. I authorize your request to build a 6-man task force in order to hunt down this Rogue Squad and bring them in. You will have access to as much funding as you need in order to bring them down." She turned away, but Zavala stopped her. "One more thing." She turned around. "They are to be brought in alive. We need to know what they are doing, if they have any employers and if they're on our side or not. Don't let what happened 5 years ago cloud your judgment when you find one of them, Ciana." She nodded.

"I know." Ciana turned around and headed out the door. It was finally time to hunt down the Rogue Squad.


End file.
